


The Expanse

by OnyxReed



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU in which Lapis is happy for once in her goddamn life, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Massage, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 14:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3982276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxReed/pseuds/OnyxReed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot plays along with Lapis’s plan for her relaxation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Expanse

**Author's Note:**

> http://marxistperidot.tumblr.com/post/115718467126/the-expanse
> 
> For the Explicit sequel that I will not be posting on this page, go here: http://marxistperidot.tumblr.com/post/115878268821/the-expanse-part-2

“Come on, Peridot!”

Peridot only gathered nagging from the voice that was, for the most part, positively encouraging. When accented with a harsh tug to the fingers intertwined with blue digits, the voice elicited a groan from the green gem.

“This is unnecessary,” she retorted. “You know how full my plate is: because of you, I might add.”

Lapis looked back towards the artificer, offering a stern nod. “That is why I think that you deserve a break.”

“I have an inordinate amount of work to do this week!”

“You are an efficient worker bee. You’ll be able to make up for any lost time within the day.”

Grumbling the entire way there, Peridot was practically dragged by her partner through the bustle of the Homeworld city, gems occasionally sparing them a confused passing glance. This only made Peridot grumble louder, a blush raging on her cheeks. Finally, their destination, which Lapis had “forgotten” to disclose prior to the journey, was obvious.

“Lapis…” Peridot completely deadpanned.

The two gems stood before a sight that modern Homeworld gems tried their hardest to avoid, one that was kept on the planet solely for its importance to the homeostatic levels of key gases in the atmosphere and its potential for power grids later on:

A grassy field.

Lapis grinned, coaxing Peridot to her side and wrapping her arm around the other’s waist as both eyes scanned the green expanse. “Isn’t it gorgeous? Before I left Homeworld, gems would come here to stare at the clouds and spend quality time with each other.”

Clearly, something had changed: The field was entirely empty and grown over, grasses vying with each other for dominance and small crystalline insects falling prey to larger ones.

“This is asinine,” rang the voice of the naysayer herself.

Lapis shook her head, turning to face Peridot directly. “You have been working yourself too hard lately, Peri,” she insisted, the nickname drawing another blush from the technician. “I will insist that you give me a chance this time.”

Peridot rolled her eyes, taking a tentative step forward. “Fine, but we need to be back in the ship by sundown.”

To Peridot, the trek in the grass seemed just as long, if not longer, than that in the city. She felt all sorts of creatures find traction on her boots, the majority of which ended up squished under her heel. However, she was completely unable to mete out the same fate to the grasses, reaching up past her knees and tickling her leg as she walked along. They impeded her movement, frustrating her further. Her grumbling grew to its climax.

Despite her own struggles, she gained a minute amount of joy from watching the fluid motions of Lapis Lazuli. The other gem, to her fascination, moved through the grasses with ease, her agility impeded by neither the most disgusting of pests nor the thickest of flora. Even though her connection with Peridot’s fingers remained, she did not struggle with the extra baggage, moving through the obstacles like a winding creek. Her grace was that of an ancient gem, a fluidity that had long since been replaced with calculated efficiency.

Ironically, as Lapis found no trouble and Peridot found plenty, the new-age technician was not the efficient one of the pair.

“Here!”

Peridot’s thoughts were cut off by what sounded like a siren’s call to her: an end to the trudging. They wound up in a spot where the grasses only reached to the middle of their calves and the Homeworld sun beat intensely, but not overwhelmingly, upon their flesh.

Lapis sat down, patting the ground next to her for Peridot to join. Doing so, Peridot moved the grass away with her fingers before she sat, still shuddering at the odd sensations around her.

Chuckling, Lapis scooted closer to fill the gap between the two. “How long has it been since you’ve gone outside of it all, Peri?”

Peridot glanced whence they came before looking back towards Lapis. “I’ve never been out here.”

“Is it prohibited?”

“Not explicitly, but there are always things to do. I have to check the launchers, order the fuel, message my extraplanetary contacts, ensure that y-”

“No!” Lapis snapped with an authority that Peridot had learned to follow. “Don’t worry about your work. That would defeat the purpose.”

Peridot shook her head. “You, too, would worry if given my plate.”

Lapis furrowed her eyebrows - Because her burden is clearly an easy one! - but she prevents Peridot’s comments from getting to her. She let out a sigh, as if relieving the pressure inside of herself. How could she help Peridot with her stress if she was just as tense?

She extends her legs and parts them, patting the ground in front of her. “Sit here,” she said.

Peridot blinked, looking at the spot and the back to Lapis with a dash of incredulity in her countenance. “Why?”

“You need to relax. Sit here.”

With plenty of reasons to trust her and few reasons to not, Peridot stood up to replant herself in between Lapis’s legs, her back erect as to prevent her form from collapsing on top of the other gem.

“Is it alright if I flip your back panel open?”

Alright, that was enough. Peridot looked over her shoulder with eyes widened and face flushed. “What? Wh-why would you, I don’t..!”

“Peri, won’t you trust me?”

“Tell me what you want to do,” Peridot insisted, hovering a finger over the switch on her left side.

“A massage. You have had a massage before, right?”

Silence. Peridot turned her head back around.

“Of course you haven’t.”

Peridot consented, pressing down on the switch to flip it up. The panel covering her back released from the right side, hinging on the left and swinging outwards. Lapis caught it before it hit her, gently swinging it over to the left side. A shiver made its way through the technician’s body. She didn’t dare to turn back around, accurately predicting the cheeky grin that would be on her partner’s face.

“You’re so sensitive,” Lapis observed, running lithe fingers down the length of Peridot’s upper back from her shoulder down to where the next panel began around her tailbone. “Oh, and you’re so tense!”

Meanwhile, Peridot shivered again, straightening her back out as Lapis’s fingers moved. “We have a-already established my sensitivity,” she growled, shooting a glance over her shoulder just long enough for Lapis to notice that the color of her cheeks had, once again, become lighter.

Lapis chuckled, putting both hands on either of her shoulders and kneading lightly. “Try to relax,” she spoke softly, scooting up a bit closer to Peridot and pressing a small kiss on the back of her neck.

This seemed to work wonders, judging by how Peridot hummed lowly and rocked her shoulders up into Lapis’s working hands.

Lapis worked downwards from the shoulders, occasionally stopping to knead a particularly-tough knot. In a matter of minutes, the technologically-enhanced brick wall that was Peridot could be shaped like putty. She arched her back with Lapis’s hands, putting up a half-hearted and futile fight against the groans that she emitted.

Peridot just barely heard “Ooh, very sensitive..!” come from behind her, and she nearly lost herself.

Apparently, Lapis heard the moan that she emitted.

“What nature of noise did you just make, Peri?”

The firm rubbing against the pressure points of her back came to a grinding halt when Peridot’s heated face turned around. Their eyes connected, one pair filled with pride and the other with embarrassment.

Lapis was the first to disconnect the eye contact, leaning forward and pressing a chaste kiss to Peridot’s cheek. “Let’s get back, yes?”

Peridot blinked. “Well, ah, that might not be completely necessary.”

“Where did all that work of yours go?” Lapis resumed her kneading with one hand, somewhat lazily. These small motions earned her a slight squeak from Peridot, one that escaped her without hindrance.

“I can do it later,” she claimed, breathing heavily. She felt a small pang of guilt at her procrastination, but it quickly melted away with Lapis’s skilled fingers.

Lapis never thought that she would hear those words come from Peridot, especially with respect to her duties to Yellow Diamond. She took it as an unspoken compliment for her abilities.

Peridot felt Lapis’s fingers halt shortly thereafter once they had finished kneading a dreadful knot right above her hip. It didn’t take her very long to miss her partner’s skilled digits along her back. Even though the work had been on her back, all of her muscles felt fully relaxed. She sat on a Cloud Nine made of itchy grass. Her breathing was significantly louder, and she glanced down at her rising-and-falling chest as if it were the first time she had seen it.

“Did you enjoy it?”

Lapis closed Peridot’s back panel again, waiting for it to close with a click before she crept back around. Peridot couldn’t help but notice the grass stains on her skirt.

“What are you staring at?”

Peridot shook her head. “Nothing! Nothing. It was… I needed that.”

Lapis smirked, swinging a leg to Peridot’s other side, facing her and straddling her thighs. The grass stains ceased to be relevant.

Lapis pressed a long kiss against Peridot’s lips, wrapping her arms around the other gem to press them as close together as they could be. Peridot responded instinctively, arms and lips fitting in their places like pieces of a puzzle. As they drew away, Peridot saw Lapis’s azure skin change color as the sun peaked over the horizon, spilling its colors on the plain. She was the water peaking over the horizon, a work of art in her arms.

“Need anything else?”


End file.
